It’s that magical time of year again as LIZ NICHOLLs finds out about all things Alice

It’s time to fall down that rabbit hole again.

From now, until the end of the weekend, is the time to indulge in Oxford at its most dreamlike, eccentric and wonderful. It’s 151 years since that golden afternoon when Oxford don Charles Dodgson (aka Lewis Carroll) took Alice Liddell and her sisters on a boating picnic up the River Thames.

The rest is literary history: the story about the little girl who tumbles into a topsy-turvy wonderland was published in 1865 and has become one of the best-loved children’s books ever written. But it’s both adults and children who can legitimately indulge in Alice. It is a story which is influential and ‘trippy’ – though the influence of drugs has been disputed by literary experts (however, try telling that to the smoking caterpillar and the mushrooms).

Anyway, there is family fun for big and little kids alike this weekend, come rain or shine, as more than 20 institutions come together to offer up their most curious bursts of creativity.

Rainy day events can be found at The Story Museum, the Ashmolean, the Pitt Rivers Museum, Blackwell’s, The Old Fire Station and the Museum of Oxford, all of which offer indoor sessions with plenty of Alice-themed arts and crafts. The Central Library has a workshop on nonsense poems for anyone aged five to 11, and you can explore the library with a trail. There will be storytelling in the O3 Gallery, the Bodleian and The Story Museum, and also at the O3 Gallery; all have indoor spaces to shelter from wet weather. Or, stay dry by visiting art exhibitions.

Christ Church Cathedral will display poetry on this year’s theme of nonsense and art by local schoolchildren. Lewis Carroll’s original manuscripts and artwork can be seen at Christ Church Library, and the Bodleian will show Salvador Dali’s illustrations of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

A collection of art exploring the theme of nonsense will appear at the O3 Gallery, and the Museum of Oxford’s exhibition Inspired by… explores art and writing inspired by Oxford.

Fancy sitting down with the experts? The Old Fire Station will be hosting three different talks about Lewis Carroll and nonsense with local historian Mark Davies, and members of the Lewis Carroll Society.

Join theatre company Teatro Vivo at The Story Museum for performances from now until Sunday. Everyone is also invited to the world’s most famous tea party, to meet the White Rabbit and help the Cheshire Cat put himself together. Play croquet with the Queen of Hearts (be careful or you might lose your head!), and follow them down the rabbit hole during the London-based theatre company’s promenade production of Adventures in Wonderland. (If the courtyard is awash, the entertainment will move indoors.)

As The Story Museum’s atmospheric building comes to life with characters from Lewis Carroll’s Alice, visitors will experience the famous story in a brand new way, using all their senses. They will follow strange characters and backwards riddles to discover scenes, installations and games relating to Alice’s world.

All Alice’s Day activities are co-ordinated by The Story Museum, Pembroke Street. Visit storymuseum.org.uk or call 01865 79005